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Marrakech – Twenty-four Moroccan students have been admitted to the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris for the upcoming academic year.
These students, all from classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE), will join the X2025 promotion in September after successfully passing the rigorous entrance examinations.
According to a statement from École Polytechnique, 56 Moroccan candidates initially qualified for the written phase of the competitive exam.
The 24 successful candidates will now receive exceptional training in science and engineering, coupled with the institution’s characteristic human and military education.
“These figures confirm the excellent results of Moroccan students in the École Polytechnique entrance examination,” the institution stressed in its press release.
The “polytechnicien” engineering program admission process consists of two main phases. The first involves written tests covering scientific subjects such as mathematics and physics, as well as literary examinations (French not mandatory and a modern language).
Successful candidates then proceed to oral examinations that evaluate both their scientific knowledge and language skills.
École Polytechnique has maintained long-standing close ties with Morocco, particularly through academic and research collaborations with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), one of its principal partners in the country.
The two institutions have signed cooperation agreements enabling various joint projects in research, entrepreneurship, and academics.
From Benguerir to Paris, Lydex students dominate admissions
This achievement builds on Morocco’s growing academic excellence in France. The Lycée d’Excellence de Benguérir (Lydex) secured fourth position among institutions preparing students for École Polytechnique, according to French magazine L’Etudiant’s December 2024 ranking.
It follows Paris’s Henri-IV (third), while Louis-le-Grand and Sainte-Geneviève occupy the first and second positions respectively in the Mathematics-Physics (MP) stream.
Between 2020 and 2024, approximately 7% of students admitted to École Polytechnique came from Lydex, which is “generally reserved for the most brilliant students in the country.” Lydex had previously ranked second in the Mathematics-Physics (MP) stream in February of the same year.
The Moroccan institution has demonstrated consistent success in recent years. In 2023, it set a record with 20 students gaining admission to Polytechnique, representing one-third of places allocated to international students.
In 2022, Lydex had 24 students qualify for the entrance exams, including six female students – making it the only Moroccan institution to place women in the oral examination phase that year.
Historical data shows Lydex’s consistent performance: in 2019, 11 out of 15 Lydex candidates successfully passed Polytechnique’s oral examinations, followed by 17 out of 21 in 2020, and 11 out of 25 in 2021.
According to Campus France’s 2024 report, Moroccan students constitute the largest foreign student community in France, with 45,162 students enrolled during the 2022-2023 academic year. Morocco leads in engineering school enrollments with 6,110 students, marking a 26% increase between 2017 and 2022.
Established in 2015 in Benguerir’s Mohammed VI Green City, Lydex operates with a strong social inclusion mission. Approximately 90% of students receive full scholarships, with additional financial support provided to disadvantaged students for supplementary expenses.
The residential campus model includes sports activities to help students manage the intensive study program’s demands.
Read also: OCP Foundation 2024: Over 89,000 Lives Impacted Through Education, Inclusion, and Innovation
The institution was created through a public-private partnership between the OCP Foundation and various educational sector stakeholders.
It offers exceptional learning facilities, including laboratories for all disciplines, a theater, a semi-Olympic swimming pool, and sports fields meeting international standards.
The OCP Foundation signed a partnership with the Ministry of National Education and UM6P in July 2023 to promote educational excellence through innovative initiatives.
This collaboration focuses on encouraging innovation, fostering a culture of excellence, empowering educational stakeholders, and creating sustainable impact.
The Lydex model has inspired similar initiatives, such as the Mediterranean Lyceum (Lymed) created by the Tanger Med Foundation.
Located in Tetouan, Lymed opened for the 2021-2022 academic year with its first students enrolled in the MPSI (Mathematics, Physics, Engineering Sciences) program. The campus, situated in the Tetouan Shore area near Cabo Negro, spans 3 hectares with state-of-the-art facilities.
In 2023, Lymed achieved remarkable results: all 48 students from its first class were admitted to French engineering schools, including four to École Polytechnique (with one being the highest-ranked Moroccan in the competition), 16 to Mines-Ponts schools, and 10 to Centrale schools in France.
